All manner and variety of absorbent articles configured for the absorption of body fluids such as menses, urine, and feces are, of course, well known. Absorbent articles, particularly sanitary napkins, having wings or flaps are disclosed in the literature and are available in the marketplace.
Generally, the flaps extend laterally from a central absorbent means and are intended to be folded around the edges of the wearer's panties in the crotch region. Thus, the flaps are disposed between the edges of the wearer's panties in the crotch region and the wearer's thighs.
The flaps serve at least two purposes. First, the flaps prevent exudates which otherwise would soil the edges of the wearer's panties from doing such. Second, the flaps help stabilize the napkin from shifting out of place, especially when the flaps are affixed to the underside of the panties.
Sanitary napkins having flaps of various types are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,478, entitled "Shaped Sanitary Napkin With Flaps", which issued to Van Tilburg on Aug. 18, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,047, entitled "Sanitary Napkin Attachment Means", which issued to Mattingly on Aug. 26, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,876, entitled "Sanitary Napkin", which issued to Van Tilburg on May 20, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,343, entitled "Sanitary Napkin", which issued to McNair on Aug. 25, 1981, U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,697, entitled "Disposable Sanitary Shield For Undergarments", which issued to Rickard on Aug. 20, 1968, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,787,271, entitled "Sanitary Napkin", which issued to Clark on Apr. 2, 1957. All of the above Patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Commonly, the flaps are provided with an adhesive attachment means, or flap adhesive, for affixing the flaps to the underside of the wearer's panties. The flap adhesive is generally provided with a release liner to protect the adhesive from contaminants such as dirt, keep the adhesive from drying out and keep the adhesive from sticking to the skin of the wearer and/or extraneous surfaces prior to use. The release liner is peeled from the flap adhesive to expose the adhesive surface. The adhesive surface is then applied to the underside of the panties to secure the flap in place. After being peeled from the flap adhesive, the release liner is discarded. However, this arrangement requires the use of two hands to remove the release liner from each flap, i.e., the user must hold the flap with one hand and peel the release liner with the other hand. This also requires the user to dispose of the release liners which have been removed from the flaps of the sanitary napkin. Therefore, there is a need for a sanitary napkin having flaps which can be manipulated and applied using one hand. There is also a need for a sanitary napkin with adhesive attachment means comprising an adhesive patch that can be releasably secured to itself thereby eliminating the need for separate pieces of release paper for the adhesive attachment means.
While flaps greatly improve the effectiveness of a sanitary napkin, the flaps of a sanitary napkin may hinder or impede application of the sanitary napkin to the crotch of the wearer's panty. Currently, each of the flaps of a sanitary napkin have an end, the distal end, which may move freely relative to the sanitary napkin. Once the release paper of the central pad adhesive is removed by the wearer, the distal ends of the flaps may fall between the crotch portion of the wearer's panty and the sanitary napkin and may become adhered to the central pad adhesive. Therefore, there is a need for a sanitary napkin having flaps positioned so that they will not interfere with the application of the sanitary napkin to the panty.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, having flaps with an adhesive patch which is releasable from itself and can protect itself from contaminants, drying out, or sticking to extraneous surfaces.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article having flaps with an adhesive patch which eliminates the need for separate pieces of release liner and maintains the flap in a folded configuration until the flap is used.
These and other objects of the present invention will be more readily apparent when considered in reference to the following description and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.